Gearing structure for lathes



"March 8, 1932. v H B 5 1,848,392

GEARING STRUCTURE FOR LATHES Filed July 21, 1930 ZSheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. HAM/l. T0 5. 6PA/FK5 March 8, 1932. H. a. SPARKS 3 5 GEARING STRUCTURE FOR LATHES Filed July '21, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR. HAM/I. 7011/8. 5 PA lTA fi j A TTORNEYS.

Patented Mar ,1932

* i TUNITEDEC I s mmgm; risrfenxs, or TERLRE HAUTE, INDIANA}; R

A V i enazaxiirefsrnvorunn Fonreruns] s hpiiiieat ion filed ruiylai,1930; Seria1.No.469,553.

This invention apperta'ins to lathes and 'more particularly to anovel mission mechanism therefor.

One of the primary: objects ofinven tion is to provide a novel reversing mechanism' for the, feed jsc'rew fof the lathe which is of simple and durableconstruction and which can be readily andquiokly' actui ated by the operator of the machine. r

g Another important object of my invention isthepro'visionof a slide; plate mounted on' the head stock'or bed ofthe lathe, having the slide platefshowingone of the idle, gears carried thereby in meshing engagement with the spur gearof the stub shaft of the latheg rotatably mounted thereon ats'paced points gears of the idle type eitherot which uponmanipulation of the plate is'a'dapted to, 'be

moved 7 into engagement with-the opposite sides of a drive gear and in'meshin'g engagement'with the drive gears ofthe, feed screw;

A further important object o famy" inven tion is the provision of novel'means forop erating "the slide plate embodying 2a rock shaft mounted on the front of "the' lathe bed having an operating crank within conven- 'ient reach of'the operation, the rock shaft eters can be readily mounted thereon for perniitting the changing of the speed of .the i stitutes a" part of the drive Qmechanism fQr 1 @tio'nthereof. b A furtheriobject of my invention is the] provision of novel means for forming .the

being connected: with the slide plate through the medium of a [crank and pitmant j 3 y A further salientrobject of myinv'entiori is the provision ofi axswinging plate carried by the lathe-carrying the drive gears for the" feed screw withLnie'ans for holding the plate l inan adjusted position forbri-nging .o'neoe said drive gears intoith'e path ofthe selected idle gear jonirthe slide plate upon" manipula slide plate whereby gears of different diam:

feed screw. i

ple and easy to manufacture, and one which can be placed upon-the market and incorporatedwith ala'thelatia small cost.

Withthese and other objects in view, the

inventionconsists inthe novel construction; arrangement and formatlon of'p'arts, as will gear .or trans be hereinafter. more specifically described, claimed, andillustratedin'the accompany- I ing' drawings, in which drawings Figure lis'an end elevation of'alath'e show therewith. i H

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of} a lathe showing mv improved gear structure incorporated therewith,

Figure 3 is a horizontal section through the slide plate carrying the idle, gears;- i .c

Figure 4 is a detail verticalsection through ing; plate with "the various gears removed f there-from. i

Referringto the drawings indetail; where; a 1 in s milar reference characters designate corresponding I-parts throughout the severaL' views, the letter "generally indicates a I lathegwhich canfbe of any preferred orconventio'nal 'constructionand which embodies" the lathebedlQ havingth usual head stock' llljfor the, spindle 12 thereof which spindle may. be. driven in any preferred Way." The spindle 12 at the outer end thereof [is provided with a relatively [small drive spur gear 13, which meshes with ra-relatively ilar ei spur gear 14], keyed or otherwise securedto t .8

stub shaft 15 rotatab1y carried by thehead; block. Keyed to this stub shaft ,15, isja'rel-i atively small spur gear wheel 16, whichtcon-fl l';

the feed screw 17 for-the work; {The bedof the lathe directly'below the stub shaft 15has secured thereto, in accordance with, myfiine ceiving the slide plate 22. The slide plate22i:

' carries a pair of spaced idlegears 23j'and24t. V i

which are of the same diameter and theseidle gears 23 and 24 are rotatably mounted upon,

suitable stubshafts 25 bolted or otherwise "-109 ing myimproved gear structure incorporated secured to'the outer face of the slide plate. It is obvious that these gears can be readily removed to permit the replacing thereof by larger gears or smaller gears as the case may be to bring about the varving of the speed of the feed screw through the feed screwdrive as will belater described. However, the proportion-of the gears 24 and 23 relative to one another should remain the same at all times and it is to be noted that these gears are so disposed on the slide" plate as to lie on opposite sides of the drive pinion or spur gear 16.

Rockably mounted on the fed screw shaft 17 is the swinging plate 26 which forms an important part of my invention. The swinging plate adjacent to the end thereof remote from the end rockably mounted on thescrew shaft 17 is provided with an ar'cuate guide slot 27 through which extends a stud 28 carried by the frame of the lathe and this. stud hasthreaded on the same a winged nut 29 for impinging against the swinging plate to hold the same any preferred adjusted position. Keyed or otherwise secured to the feed screw shaft 17 is a relatively large spur gear 30 and meshing with this gear is afspur gear wheel or pinion 31 rotatably mounted on astubshaft 32 carried by the swinging plate. Directly above the spur gear 31 is a pair of meshing gears 33 and 34 of equal size and these gear wheels are rotatably mounted upon stub shafts 35 carried by said swinging plate 26.

86v It is obvious that by raising and lowering the swinging plate 26 that the gear wheel 33 and 34 can be brought into and out of the path of the gears 23 and 24 carriedby the slide plate 22, for a purpose, which willbe later described.

In order to bring about the effective sliding of the slide plate 22 I provide a bracket or extension plate 36 which can be bolted to the lathe bed 10, orframe so as to project laterally .from' the front edge thereof. This bracket or bed plate 36 carries suitable bear ings 37 adjacent to its opposite end for the reception of a rock shaft 38. One end of the rock shaft is provided with a throw crank 39 to which is o eratively connected the pitman rod 40. T connected by means of a suitable wrist pin or Y be pitman rod 40 is in turn thelike 41 to the slide plate 22. The 0p- 7 posite end of the shaft 38 from the end car M rying the throw crank 39 is provided with a manipulating hand crank or lever 42, which. lever. carries a suitable manipulating handle 43.

y The plate orbracket 36 can he provided with a resilient arcuate rack bar 44 for holding the operating crank 42 in itsdifi'erent adjusted positions. I

In'operation of my improved gearing, considering that the swinging plate 26 is in its raised position as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings when it is desired to rotate the feed screw 17 in one direction the crank 42 is moved to the right, Figures 1 and 2, which will slide the slide plate 22 to the right so as to bring the gear 23 carried thereby into meshing engagement with the spur gear 16 carried by the stub shaft15 and the gear 33 carried by the swinging plate. Hence the drive from the spindle shaft 12 to the feed screw 17 is through the drive gears 13 and 14, the pinions 16, 23, $3, 34, 3 1, and'30, which will bring about the drivingof the feed screw shaft in one direction. When it is desired to reverse the rotation of this feed screw shaft it is merely necessary to move the crank 42 to the left, Figure 1 of the drawings. which will slide the slide plate 22 t0 the left and thence bring about the meshing'of the gear 24 carried by the slide plate with the pinion 16 and the pinion 34. Thus the drive will be through the drive gear 113 and 14, the pinions 16, 24, 34, 31 and 30.

It is'obvious that by swinging the plate 26 downwardly that the drive gears can be brought out of the path of the gears 23 and 24 so as to stop the operation of the feed screw shaft,.although the slide plate can be moved to anintermediateposition so as to have the drive gears 23 and 24 both out of engagement with the pinion 16. p

Inorder to bring about the effective changing of ther speed of the feed screw shaft I prefer to make the swinging plate 26 as shown in Figure 6 of'the drawings. As shown in Figure 6 the plate is provided with a pair of upper oppositely extending arcuate grooves 45 and46ethrough which are adapted to extend the fastening means for the shafts 35 of the spur gears or pinions' 33 and 34. Below the slots-45 and 46 is formed a third arcuate slot 47 which extends upwardly and toward the pivot thereof. By this arrangement of slots 45, 46 and 47 the shafts for the gears 33, 3 4, and 35 can be set in different positions so that different sized gears can be placed in intermeshing engagement with one another and with the'gear 30 for bringing about the'change of the gear speed ratio.

"Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or the scope of this invention, but

What I claim as new is:

1. In a lathe,a spindle, a stub shaft, means for driving the stub shaft from the spindle, the stub shaft having a drive gear connected therewith, a feed screw, a gear keyed to the feed screw, a slide plate, a pair of idle gears rotatably carried by the slide plate and arranged on opposite sides of the drive gear carried by said stub shaft, means, for operating the slide plate to bring either one of said idle gears in engagement with theopposite side of the gear carried by said stub shaft, a swinging. plate, intermeshing gears rotatably carried by the swinging plate and meshing with the gear on the feed screw shaft, and

means forraising and ,lowering'the swinging, plate, to bringcertain ofthe gears carried thereby into and out of thepath of said idle gears. I v V r 2. In a lathe, alreversing gear for the feed screw thereof including a swinging plate having a pairof upper oppositely extending arcuate slots and a lower arcuate slot extending upwardly and toward one end of the plate,

a said slots being adapted to adjustablyl receive stub shafts for idlegears. n

3. In a lathe, arreversing mechanism for the r I I feed screw thereof, including a pair of guides connected with the lathe, a slide plate mount ed in the guides, a pairof idle gears rotatably I a mounted on the slide of equal size, a support-, v

ing'plate connected with the lathe, a rock shaft rockably mounted on the plate, means operatively connecting the rock shaft and slide plate including a crank'and pitman, an

operatingcrank for the rock shaft, and an arcuate rack bar having the teeth thereof arranged to engage the operating crank.

, In testimony whereof I aflixmy signature.

HAMILTON B. I SPARKSi 

